From a Slave to a Stitcher: The Kamlaris of Nepal

The producer of Fly My Damsel lingerie in Kathmandu, Sujha Traders & Exporters, employs especially former kamlari women. Who are the kamlaris? This is their story.

Background of the
system

The southernmost
region of Nepal is a fertile plain called Terai stretching south from
the Himalayan foothills. Until the mid-1900's the Terai was sparsely
populated and mostly covered with tropical jungle. High risk of
malaria kept the Nepalese power elites away from the area. One of the
groups who lived there were the Tharus, an ethnic group who were
naturally resistant to malaria. Nepali rulers wanted to start
cultivating the Terai area since 19th century, but it only
started in 1950's after malaria had been eradicated from the area
with the help of DDT. People from higher in the foothills started to
settle the Terai in large quantities. The newcomers had better
education, better knowledge of the political system, and better
connections to officials, which helped them to take over the land.
The Tharu ended up as their tenants or farm labourers.

Farm labourer's
wage is very small and tenant farmers often ended in debt. The whole
family may have had to survive with less than 200 euros per year.
This was especially hard in families with many children, and kamlari
system offered a way to relieve the burden. Kamlari system meant that
the poor parents gave their daughter to work in another family for
about 50 euros per year, thus making the same amount of money as a
farm labourer made in 3 months and also saving the expenses of
providing for the child. A kamlari girl worked for her employers for
room and board and a small wage. Also the employers often promised to
educate the girl. Kamlari contract lasted for one year at the time,
after which the girl returned home if the contract was not renewed.

Life as a kamlari

The reality of kamlaris was very far
from promises. Most kamlaris never attended school but they had to
work for their employers from early morning till night. Room and
board meant sleeping on the kitchen floor and eating leftovers;
salary was by maximum a few dozen euros for the whole year; the risk
of violence and sexual abuse was constant, and some kamlaris were
forced to prostitution. The contract rarely ended with one year,
because many employers didn't want to return the girl home
voluntarily. In some families, women of several generations had spent
their childhoods as kamlaris. In many cases the girl's family also
never got the money that was promised for them for the girl.

Kamlari system
was hidden from Nepali officials for a long time, even though it was
openly practiced in some areas in Western Nepal. Poor and often
illiterate parents had no means to demand their children back, and if
the girl herself ran away and returned home, her family often wasn't
able to provide for her any better than before. If she had gone to
school before ending up as a kamlari, she often had difficulties in
continuing her studies because of taeching that she had missed.
Sometimes the only option was to return to work as a kamlari.

Freedom begins

Nepal Youth
Foundation found out about the kamlari system in 2000, and started to
act against it. Their staff started to look for kamlari girls, return
them to their homes and support them in attending school. Together
with the poor families they planned a financial support program which
enabled the families to provide for their children and keep them at
home. Vocational training was organised to freed kamlaris to help
them provide for themselves. Nepal Youth Foundation organises
education on several fields, of which the girls and young women can
choose the one they want. Education is sewing is organised by Sujha
Traders in their training center in Western Nepal. After a six-month
initial training the former kamlaris are employed to Sujha Traders'
factory in Kathmandu, which produces clothes not only for Fly My
Damsel but for several other companies as well. There are currently
about 100 employees in the factory, and 70 of them are stitchers.

Sujha Traders is
part of Fair Trade Group Nepal, which in turn is a member of World
Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO), and follows the WFTO principles.
Sujha employees can directly affect their own earnings. There are no
strict timetables, and every stitcher can work at their own pace.
They are paid a certain sum per garment which they negotiate with the
factory administrators. This sum is counted so that it makes a living
wage even for the less-experienced stitchers. The official minimum
wage in Nepal is about 9000 rupees a month. However, living wage is
considerably more: for an adult who provides for one child it is 12
500 rupees with the current price level. Sujha Traders pays at least
12 500 to all its employees, and the most experienced stitchers can
earn as much as 20 000 rupees per month. Sujha Traders provides its
employees also accommodation if needed and scholarships for their
children. Also health care, paid holidays and sick leave are part of
the deal, which is not customary in all workplaces in Nepal.

What has been
achieved?

Nepal Youth
Foundation has frees over 12 000 kamlari girls, and many of them have
received professional education through Sujha Traders. Professional
skills take them further than just Sujha Traders's factory. Many of
their former employees who have moved away from Kathmandu for example
because of getting married, have started their own tailoring
businesses, which helps them to provide for their families. Some of
those who moved away have returned because of the better standard of
living offered by the work at Sujha Traders. The rise in the standard
of living of the former kamlaris affects also their families in the
countryside, since it is customary in Nepal to take care of those
family members who are less well-off.

Along with
freeing the kamlaris, Nepal Youth Foundation started an awareness
campaign to make the system publicly known and have it prohibited.
Former kamlaris were encouraged to take lead in this campaign. They
started to tell about their experiences in public forums and
discourage families from selling their daughters. Freed Kamlari
Development Forum was founded in 2010 to coordinate their work. They
were finally successful in 2013, when kamlari system was officially
prohibited in Nepal. It is possible though, that the law alone is not
enough to stop the system. Many Tharus and other groups still live in
extreme poverty, which has made the kamlari system possible. After
its prohibition, the exploitation of their poverty can easily find
another form. This is why the work of Nepal Youth Foundation and
Sujha Traders is still needed to eradicate poverty.